Hi all,
My husband and I (mid-30s) will be traveling 12/26-1/4, with the first 4 nights in Frankfurt and 12/31-1/3 in Montreux. Visiting a local in Frankfurt but still open to suggestions for day trips. From Montreux we plan to ski for a day (probably in Gstaad) and I'd like to go to the hot springs in Leukerbad. Here are my questions....
1) Where should we stay on 12/30? This is wide open, from adding a night in Montreux, to somewhere else on the way from Frankfurt to Montreux, to somewhere else in Germany. We like beautiful views, beer (husband), wine (me), food of all kinds, outdoor activities that aren't too strenuous (I have a medical condition that limits me a bit), and hot springs (lots of other things of course, but must limit the list here)!
2) Should we get some kind of rail pass? If so, what kind? There are so many options my head literally hurts every time I really start to try to figure it out.
3) I cannot figure out how to get the train from Montreux to Leukerbad - is this actually not easily possible and so I should forget that side trip? If so, are there other hot springs around we could get to?
4) What to do for New Year's Eve?
5) We'd like to potentially visit one other country but literally only for a 1/2 day or so. It seems like France from Montreux is the best option, but I can't figure out where to go or what train to take to get there.
Any and all suggestions are much appreciated!!!
Thank you - CC
Frankfurt Germany & Montreux Switzerland over New Year's
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2) Train passes are usage model specific, and you have not described how you intend to use a pass if you had one. For strictly cross country limited travel, a pass rarely make sense since the product is meant for frequent travels in not so spread out area. For example, during your stay in Frankfurt, you want to visit other nearby places, there are www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/prices/germany/regional-offers-overview.shtml, but it limits you to nearby places that make sense using slow trains, 2nd class, after 9am or weekends. If you however want to go much further away, leaving before 9am, and use mostly ICE high speed trains, these premium products might make sense http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/prices/germany/germanrailpass.shtml.
3) It helps to know where you looked for your transportation connections. The easiest one to use is http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en which even tells you the routing on a map. To get the prices, you need to go to www.sbb.ch, which shows up when you google "train switzerland." as one of the top links. Leukerbad seems to be a tough place to get to. The last segment is by bus. I hope there is something special there for you. Another bath town on the route between Frankfurt to Montreux is Baden-Baden. The train connection from Frankfurt to Baden-Baden is quite simple (use the bahn link above.) The Baden-Baden to Montreux require some change, but same for Frankfurt-Montreux, so it is not adding anymore complexity to your existing trip. Do you have to stay in Frankfurt in 4 nights?
Hi CC,
Yes, the Swiss rail site is the one to use for fares, and for schedules as well.
I don't see Leukerbad as being tough to get to from Montreux, at all! The trip takes 1h45, with one change in Leuk. Yes, the last portion is by bus, but you simply walk from the train to the side of the station and hop onto the bus; it's really not much different from changing trains.
There will be a big fireworks demonstration at the lakeside in Vevey on New Year's Eve, so that's where I would head. You can take the town busses back and forth from Montreux to Vevey; they will be free for you with the Riviera Card you get from your hosts. I'm in Montreux now, and many of the restaurants are advertising special dinners for New Year's Eve, as well.
For your extra night, I would stay overnight in Gstaad. I'm glad to see you plan to see the place, and spending the night there will give you more time for that. (It would be quite time consuming to try to fit in skiing after a 2h train ride from Montreux, then renting your gear, then finding the lifts, etc) If you spend a night in Gstaad, you could ski for your one day, and you could also spend a few hours in the lovely medieval village of Gruyeres. To get to Gstaad from Frankfurt, you would go to Spiez and Zweisimmen, then get on the Golden Pass route to get to Gstaad. Continuing to Montreux is easy on the Golden Pass route.
Have fun as you plan!
s